“The land has been acquired and pipelines and electric poles are being shifted. We hope to complete the road work by February 2016,” he said.

Widening work on 35-km stretch of the road has been completed, he added.

To widen the road, 51 acres in 34 villages were acquired and 1,355 trees felled. “We have paid Rs 28 crore towards land acquisition and another Rs 4 crore to the forest department for compensatory afforestation,” nodal officer of the project P K Panda said.

Meanwhile, a mid-term road user’s satisfaction survey has been launched. A New-Delhi based private company is conducting the survey.

The slow pace of work has irked locals. They took up the issue with the OSRP chief engineer as commuters suffered due to the incomplete road work. “The stretch also saw frequent accidents,” said former Chairman of Digapahandi NAC Hruday Ranjan Mekap.